Downstream Processing for Xylitol Recovery from Fermented Sugar Cane Bagasse Hydrolysate Using Aluminium Polychloride
Silvio S. Silva
a,*, Rodrigo M. Ramos
b, Denise C. G. A. Rodrigues
aand Ismael M. Mancilha
ba Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemical Engineering of Lorena, P.Box 116, Lorena, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil. E-mail: silvio@debiq.faenquil.br
b Departament of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Vic¸osa, Vic¸osa, M.Gerais, Brazil
* Author for correspondence and reprint requests
Z. Naturforsch.55c,10Ð15 (2000); received August 25/October 4, 1999 Xylitol, Sugar Cane Bagasse, Aluminium Polychloride, Aluminium Sulfate
Xylitol, a sweetener comparable to sucrose, is anticariogenic and can be consumed by diabetics. This sugar has been employed sucessfully in many foods and pharmaceutical pro- ducts. The discoveryof microorganisms capable of converting xylose present in lignocellulosic biomass into xylitol offers the opportunity of producing this poliol in a simple way. Xylitol production bybiotechnological means using sugar cane bagasse is under studyin our laboratories, and fermentation parameters have alreadybeen established. However, the downstream processing for xylitol recoveryis still a bottleneck on which there is onlya few data available in the literature. The present studydeals with xylitol recoveryfrom fermented sugar cane bagasse hydrolysate using 5.2 g/l of aluminium polychloride associated with acti- vated charcoal. The experiments were performed at pH 9, 50∞C for 50 min. The results showed that aluminium polychloride and activated charcoal promoted a 93.5% reduction in phenolic compounds and a 9.7% loss of xylitol from the fermented medium, which became more discoloured, facilitating the xylitol separation.
